Heavy downpour in Bengaluru for the past 36 hours threw life out of gear here on Tuesday as well. People were seen walking through knee-deep water and traffic jams were reported in many places. The rain-related toll went up to five in the state, officials said.
Sai Layout in the city continued to resemble an island due to the torrential rains. Ground floor of the houses here were half-submerged and people were unable to come out. About 150 people were rescued and shifted to safe locations on Monday, authorities said.
Significant parts of the city were flooded by a heavy downpour that began on Sunday. On Monday, many parts of the city received 100 mm of rainfall, a record since 2011.The city is on high alert due to cyclonic formations over the Andaman Sea, according to authorities. Bengaluru is home to major global technology companies, many of whom have asked their employees to work from home due to flooded roads.
Most of the areas of city have been flooded by heavy rain that began on Sunday. Many parts of the city received 100 mm (4in) of rain on Monday, a record since 2011. Heavy rains paralysed Bengaluru's tech corridors, turning key arterial roads into waterlogged traps and leaving hundreds of commuters stranded.
Among the worst-hit areas were Koramangala, HSR Layout, BTM Layout, and Marathahalli, all part of the city's IT and startup backbone.
The 9.9-km Electronics City Elevated Expressway—connecting Central Silk Board to Electronics City—was shut for hours due to waterlogging, severely affecting employees headed to companies such as Infosys, Wipro, and Biocon. With no official work-from-home advisory issued by many firms, IT professionals scrambled for alternative routes, only to encounter traffic snarls and flooded underpasses.
Silk Board Junction, infamous for its congestion, became imp ..impassable after stormwater flooded service roads and choked the adjoining underpasses. Authorities also shut down stretches near Marathahalli after ..tree fell close to Kalamandir Junction.
This is "rare" for Bengaluru, CS Patil, a director at the regional weather department told news agencies.
Apart from severe water-logging and traffic disrupting daily life, heavy rainfall has also caused property damage.
In one of the city's major IT corridors, the compound wall of a software firm - i-Zed - collapsed on Monday morning, killing a 35-year-old female employee.
Multiple videos that became viral exhibited struggle of people, with commuters wading through knee-deep water, with several cars parked on waterlogged streets. Water has also entered houses in some parts of the city.
Authorities say the city corporation has identified 210 flood-prone areas where they were working round the clock to "rectify" the situation. The government has asked people not to panic and assured situation is being constantly reviewed and measures taken accordingly to bring some relief .
"There is no need for the people of Bengaluru to be worried," DK Shivakumar, Deputy chief minister of Karnataka state told reporters on Monday.However, with situation having gone from bad to worse in many areas, officials are facing criticism on social media with many complaining about the city's crumbling infrastructure and deluged roads.
"No other city invokes a sense of fear and helplessness for commuting during rains as Bangalore does," a user wrote on X.
People are worried more for the fact that city's infrastructure becomes especially fragile in the monsoons.
"Ironically, it's the newly developed areas - those built to house the booming tech sector - that face the worst flooding," she said.
The residents are attributing the chaos on roads and some residential areas to lack of coherent urban planning that respects environmental limits. There is also a feeling of disgruntlement towards governments having become insensitive to basic needs of life in a high grade city like Bengalure. Besides, lack of accountability at concerned quarters have also left Bengaluru residents to deal with the consequences.
Opposition BJP has demanded the immediate release of funds carrying out for relief operations.The state government has, however, defended itself saying these were long-standing issues. "The issues we face today are not new. They have been ignored for years, across governments and administrations," Shivakumar said.
Floods have been a recurring phenomenon in Bengaluru in recent years. Experts partly blame rapid construction over the city's lakes and wetlands and poor urban planning for the crisis.
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